The final court decision (verdict) was announced in an open court session regarding the criminal case against Armenian citizen Ruben Vardanyan, who was accused of crimes against peace and humanity, war crimes, as well as articles related to terrorism, financing of terrorism, and other grave crimes under the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
According to the verdict, R. Vardanyan was definitively sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment.
Modern.az analyzed Ruben Vardanyan's crimes against Azerbaijan and financial frauds.
Ruben Vardanyan entered Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory - Karabakh - via the Lachin road in the autumn of 2022. This was naturally assessed by Azerbaijan as an illegal crossing of the state border. His arrival in Karabakh raised a number of questions. According to Azerbaijani officials, Vardanyan was a figure brought in to finance separatism in the region and strengthen it politically.
During his 1-year activity, he tried to strengthen the economic foundations of separatism through financial networks. Thus, financial flows were organized by Vardanyan for the maintenance of illegal armed groups, and coordinated activities were established with Armenian diaspora structures abroad. At the same time, PR and lobbying mechanisms were activated to legitimize the separatist regime in Karabakh at the international level.
Based on all these steps, he was charged with "financing of terrorism". Even, in a post by the Armenian Telegram channel Togarma at that time, it was noted that Ruben Vardanyan initiated donating 50 million dollars from his own funds to "Artsakh". Even Ruben Vardanyan, who was removed from the post of "State Minister", did not want to leave Karabakh; on the contrary, he tried to expand his activities in our occupied territories by establishing a fund named "Our Mountains". He stated that he would continue his struggle against Azerbaijan. Vardanyan, who stated that he would support the social sector, education, and the improvement of the civil defense system in Karabakh, spent 4 million dollars on the activities he spoke about since the day he arrived in the region. This is precisely considered a grave crime in the context of international law.
Armed Resistance and the Events of 2023
In September 2023, Azerbaijan conducted local anti-terror measures. At that time, official Baku declared that illegal armed groups were still operating in the region and that these structures had financial and political support. Vardanyan's name was mentioned as one of the central figures of these supports. It was noted that he promoted the continuation of armed resistance, made political calls against Azerbaijan's sovereignty, and established an economic support mechanism for the continued operation of separatist structures.
Detention and Criminal Case
In September 2023, Vardanyan was detained by Azerbaijan.
Ruben Vardanyan was accused and his guilt fully proven under articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan: 100.1, 100.2 (planning, preparing, initiating, and waging aggressive war), 107 (deportation and forced displacement of population), 109 (persecution), 110 (enforced disappearance of persons), 112 (deprivation of liberty contrary to norms of international law), 113 (torture), 114.1 (mercenarism), 115.2 (violation of laws and customs of war), 116.0.1, 116.0.2, 116.0.10, 116.0.11, 116.0.16, 116.0.18 (violation of norms of international humanitarian law during armed conflict), 120.2.1, 120.2.3, 120.2.4, 120.2.7, 120.2.11, 120.2.12 (premeditated murder), 29,120.2.1, 29,120.2.3, 29,120.2.4, 29,120.2.7, 29,120.2.11, 29,120.2.12 (attempted premeditated murder), 192.3.1 (illegal entrepreneurship), 214.2.1, 214.2.3, 214.2.4 (terrorism), 214-1 (financing of terrorism), 218.1, 218.2 (creation of a criminal association), 228.3 (illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation, and carrying of firearms, their components, ammunition, explosives, and explosive devices), 270-1.2, 270-1.4 (acts threatening aviation safety), 278.1 (forcible seizure or retention of power, forcible change of the constitutional order of the state), 279.1, 279.2, 279.3 (creation of armed formations or groups not provided for by legislation), and 318.2 (illegal crossing of the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan).
Vardanyan's International Financial Frauds
In recent years, Ruben Vardanyan's business past, whose name has been mentioned not only in political processes in Karabakh but also in international financial investigations, has once again come into focus. In particular, the "Troika Laundromat" investigation, which emerged in 2019, linked his name to a global financial scheme.
What is "Troika Laundromat"?
The investigation was published in 2019 by OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) in collaboration with partner media organizations. It was noted that a network of offshore companies linked to Troika Dialog was created. Through this, approximately 4.6 billion US dollars were transferred between various countries between 2006 and 2013, and the Lithuanian banking system was mainly used in the operations. The funds were circulated by European banks. Companies that appeared formally independent were managed from a single center, and the origin and final destination of the funds were often non-transparent. The investigation shows that Ruben Vardanyan was represented in the management of "Troika Dialog" during that period.
"Danske Bank" Line
The investigation claimed that a part of the operations was carried out through the "Danske Bank" branch in Estonia. Subsequently, Danske Bank itself faced one of Europe's largest money laundering scandals. The bank became the center of international investigations due to suspicious transactions amounting to billions of dollars.
Although OCCRP materials indicated that companies linked to "Troika" conducted operations through this bank, this fact did not result in a legal decision regarding Ruben Vardanyan's direct criminal liability.
Sanction Issue and Reputation Risk
After the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, Vardanyan's ties with the Russian business elite once again came to the attention of international media. Thus, he announced his renunciation of Russian citizenship. This allowed him to escape sanctions. Currently, no individual sanction decision has been applied against him by the US or the European Union. However, in the international media environment, his name is mentioned among figures carrying "high reputation risk".
